When the New York Times reported recently that a lot of alleged nutrient supplements are devoid of nutrients and supplements, the scrum was immediately predictable. That much more so because we have seen a recent backlash against our over-hyped reliance on supplements as silver bullets.

When I learned there was a place on this earth where there has been almost no measurable rainfall...ever...my curiosity was piqued, and I booked a trip to this extraordinary place -- the Atacama desert in northern Chile.

Fortified junk food is still junk food. It isn't only what a food doesn't contain (i.e., those nutrients) that makes it dubious. It's what it does contain. The addition of vitamins and minerals does nothing to exonerate junk foods of their standard provisions of added sugars, added salt, artificial flavorings, artificial colorings, inflammatory fats, high glycemic starches, and willfully irresistible calories.

The editorial appears to be biased and to lack scholarship, as it is based on selective reporting and a superficial analysis of the vast and complex body research on the health effects of nutritional supplements.

Say that your country is blessed with natural resources. Oil, gas, minerals -- it has it all. New technologies are leading to even more discoveries. The future looks good. But deep down you worry that the bonanza could turn into a bust -- how do you know that's not going to happen?

The seemingly lifeless science of rocks and minerals is inextricably linked to biology. Life is among the most powerful agents of geological change. We cannot understand our planet's history without a keen sense of the coevolution of the geosphere and the biosphere.

A balanced diet of fresh, nutritious foods is still the ideal way to get the vitamins and minerals that your body needs. Still, millions of Americans automatically pop supplements every day, and some go so far as to take massive-dose "mega-vitamins."

An essential mineral ingredient used in a variety of electronics could be a death knell for a pristine part of a wild New Mexico desert grassland coveted by environmentalists -- and considered sacred to Native Americans.

A recent government study said more than half of all Americans take dietary supplements, which in my opinion is surprisingly high, considering these pills and powders aren't regulated like drugs but like foods.

As Europe and the US struggle to get their finances in order, and the BRIC nations do their best to build on recent successes, another continent has been quietly gaining pace. And lately not so quietly.

A multivitamin is very, very unlikely to kill anyone. If there is risk attached to the use of such supplements, it is very small. But there may be some risk -- and there is no reliable indication of benefit.